Sabbath for Letting Go

Summer is a good time to practice letting go - of structure, judgements, caution, and perfection. This season, more than any other, requires space for spontaneity and time for just being. My theme this month is balance - the stability of a grounded body and a clear mind, along with equanimity of heart. When I practice balance I am better able to let go of the bank, and dive into the flow of life.

Today I have set aside some time to just be with my art project ideas and let them expand.

Agenda:

1. Read the Creativity Book

2. Brainstorm for creativity and courage

3. Set an intention for summer creativity

4. Simple project list

5. Do the smallest thing

1. Read "The Creativity Book":

A few years ago I started but didn't finish this book by Eric Maisel (one of my favorite writers). The subtitle is "A Year's Worth of Inspiration and Guidance." Who doesn't want that? 

I've started Part 7: Connect, and the topic today is to Extend a Tradition. "Extending a tradition means connecting with the efforts of other artists for the sake of arriving at your own truth."

He suggests diving into art books to find the artists who move me, and then to arrive at a new sense of what I want to paint.

2. Brainstorm for creativity and courage:

My query today is, "What are the creative risks I want to take this summer to aid a transformation towards hope, resilience, and flow?"

• Continue an art buddy relationship and bi-weekly meetings.
• Words of Wisdom postcard design project.
• Weekly watercolor exploration - collect motifs.
• Write summer chapters for Nature-Culture book and collect photos
• Start a coat of many colors for myself.
• Mass-produce earth stencils for Earthcare Group?
• Daily preparation for pre-school Art Camp.

3. Set an intention for summer creativity:

Summer has a different cadence, open-ended and lazy, so it's easy to forget to act on my priority for creativity. Here is my intention this summer:

I intend to be passionate and brave, let go of caution and involve myself wholeheartedly with my creative projects this summer, stretching beyond the way I’ve always done things, because my creativity is from and of God, and is the voice of my soul. Furthermore, I intend to finish things I start, because my mission is to be a creative force for change, and my brilliant ideas won’t have any impact on the world unless I put them into form.

3. Simple project list:

In the fall I started using Leo Babauta's "Simple Projects List", with my top three projects. (A "project" is something that has several steps, and takes only a week or two.) "The top three projects on your Simple Projects List will be your entire focus until you finish all three ... This ensures that you aren't spreading your focus too thin, and that you are completing your projects." 

Tips: You can't actually do projects - you can only do tasks. Make a list of tasks for each project, and focus on doing one at a time. Each day, choose three tasks to complete. 

My simple projects list for the next few weeks:

• Words of Wisdom postcards with watercolor motifs
• Kids Art Camp projects 
• Write summer chapters for Nature-Culture book and collect photos

4. Do the smallest thing:

Eric Maisel has many suggestions for managing creative anxiety. Doing the smallest thing is a great way to make courageous creative work less frightening. I made a list of small things I need to do for each of my current projects, printed it, and assigned one or two per day. 

Today's tasks are:

• 

  Select some words of Wisdom that will work for my book and also as cards

• 

  Decide next camp themes and collect art, craft, nature, and game ideas; make a simple task list for prep for each day

• 

  Brainstorm summer chapters